Alienware is coming to a store near you

Buying a high-end gaming PC and accessories could become a lot easier for UK gamers this Christmas. 

Dell is close to getting its high-end gaming Alienware brand into stores across the UK.

Speaking on the sidelines of PCR Boot Camp on Wednesday, Dell’s UK general manager Sarah Shield told PCR’s Dominic Sacco that the company was in discussions with its partners to get Alienware products into stores before Christmas.

Coming soon

“Gaming is massive,” Sarah Shields said, in response to the comments made during the business event focused on PC retailers. "We own the Alienware brand, and it was great listening to the PC gaming panel discussion earlier today.

“I’ve just had a little chat with Ingram Micro and Exertis (Dell’s UK distributors), so keep an eye out - you may be able to get some Alienware [products] before Christmas.”

Currently, the only way to buy an Alienware product is via Dell’s website. That can mean an inconvenient wait for deliveries.

Samsung to launch Netflix rival?

Samsung is reportedly preparing to launch a movie and TV streaming service.

According to reports, Samsung is about to launch a streaming service with a heavy focus on original content. That will put it into direct competition with the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Sky.

The service won’t be aimed at stealing market share from Google Play, according to The Information. Instead, it will be focused on winning over customers of Netflix and Amazon.

Dubbed project Volt internally, Samsung is said to have invested millions of dollars so far. It also has some talent behind it, with former Disney executive John Pleasants heading up development of the service.

A few dollars a month

According to an insider, while Samsung is putting a focus on original content, it doesn’t currently have plans to launch a high budget project like Netflix’s House of Cards.

The insider added that Samsung is currently floating around the idea of pricing the service at just a few dollars a month.

Mobile first

It’s likely that Samsung will restrict the service to its mobile devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 10.1. It’s unclear whether or not it will come to Samsung TVs – at least at first

Audi Traffic Light Assist: never stop at a red again

So,has Audi found a solution to traffic light hell? A way to turn our cities into no-red-light districts? Rory Buckeridge, a man who doesn't like to be kept waiting, scurried over to Berlin to find out.

It’s probably a truism to suggest that there’s something intrinsically less stressful about traffic lights when you’re staring at them from behind the wheel of a factory fresh Audi. But we’re in Berlin, sticking a pristine, white A3 into drive to get hands on with Audi’s attempt to take the sting out of the commuter’s bane, with their Online Traffic Light Information System. 

Currently being trialled in Berlin, Verona and Las Vegas, Audi have hooked 700 of the German capital’s 2,500 traffic lights to the networked system, which combines GPS with on-board wi-fi internet to link car, city and traffic light. Then, an onboard system tells the driver, via a simple graphic on the dash, the phase of the traffic light ahead.

As Audi's Chair of the Board of Management, Rupert Stadler told us, "For us, as car guys, we have to understand the DNA of a city. And if we understand the DNA of a city and decode it, then we are in the driver’s seat to organise our business models – what could be our offer? An intelligent offer for our premium customers, and this is what it’s all about."

Knowing that, the car can actively plan ahead. So if the light is going to be green, it’ll suggest the optimum speed (usually around 30mph) to be able to breeze straight through. If it’s going to be red, it’ll tell you, so there’s no need to approach it like an NCAP crash test, hoping a green’s a millisecond away.
Once you’ve stopped at a red, if it’ll change in under ten seconds, the car keeps the engine running, but if it’s more than ten, it operates the engine stop/start system, restarting it five seconds before the light will phase back to green.

Audi claims that if implemented, this could reduce CO2 emissions by 15 per cent, and save 900 million litres of fuel in Germany alone. But it should also help with congestion, as you can squeeze on average an extra two cars through every light phase.
And you do find that this system genuinely changes the way you drive. Knowing that a light is going to stay red, you don’t hoon up to it in the hopes you’ll get lucky. And similarly, knowing it’ll go green the moment you arrive means there’s no hurry to get there.

But the best bit is the auto start. The engine rumbling back on becomes a physical cue you’re about to ease away, so after a while you simply stop balefully starting at the light and just wait for the blip of the ignition, which melts away some serious red light stress

The best free games on the Xbox One

The free-to-play business model is a rapidly growing phenomenon in the gaming world. Once quarantined to the PC and mobile, these new pricing structures are proliferating quickly, and altering expectations on even the most rigid of platforms. Consoles were once exclusively home to big-budget full-price games, and now the entire market is being turned on its head. The Xbox One is now home to a number of free-to-play titles, and today I want to give those games their due. Let’s jump in, and explore what the free-to-play model has to offer the Xbox One owner.

Killer Instinct

ULTRA COMBO! This classic fighting franchise has finally returned to the limelight, and this time it’s a free-to-play release exclusive to the Xbox One. Originally developed by Double Helix, its acquisition by Amazon left the dev team unable to offer continued support. Instead, the folks at Iron Galaxy stepped in, and now season two of Killer Instinct has begun.

Without dropping one red cent, you get to play as a rotating cast of free fighters, and you can slowly unlock more content from playing the game. Alternatively, you can buy in-game currency with real money to speed up the unlocking process, or simply buy an entire “season” worth of content for $40. It’s a pretty solid deal — especially compared to the traditional Capcom-style pricing model that fighting games have been burdened with in the past.

• Download for free on Xbox Live
• Find out more on IGN

Pinball FX2

If you like pinball, Zen Studios has a treat for you. With Pinball FX2, you can play dozens of tables featuring some of your favorite franchises. From South Park to Star Wars to The Walking Dead, Pinball FX2 sports an incredible amount of variety, and rewards skilled play with a superb leaderboard system. And if you know other pinball enthusiasts, you can compete asynchronously against each other for the top spot.

When you download the core client, you automatically get access to the Sorcerer’s Lair table for free. If you only have a passing interest in pinball, this table is more than enough to satiate your desires. If you’re a hardcore pinball fanatic, you can choose to buy single tables or combo packs à la carte. For example, The Walking Dead table is $3, and the Avengers Chronicles four-pack is just $10. Now that everything is delivered digitally, collecting pinball tables is actually an incredibly affordable hobby these days.

• Download for free on Xbox Live
• Find out more on IGN

   

Powerstar Golf

Up for a few holes of golf? Take a look at Powerstar Golf from Zoë Mode, and you’ll find a stylish golf game with a lot to offer. As you play, you can unlock new clubs and balls to improve your stats, and turn your character into a real pro. This persistent golfing experience tracks how well you’re doing, and easily allows you to challenge your friends to beat your score at any time. If you’ve got a competitive streak and a penchant for golf,Powerstar Golf is exactly what you’re looking for.

For free, you get access to a hole from every course. You can play as much as you like, earn experience points, and unlock new persistent gear. However, you’re going to need to pony up some cash if you want to do much more than dabble with the mechanics. You can buy any of four courses for $6 a pop, or you can invest $20 for the “full game unlock” combo pack. There has been plenty of criticism aimed at the lackluster free-to-play aspects of this game, but if you enjoy the core gameplay, it’s well worth the investment in the paid content.

• Download for free on Xbox Live
• Find out more on IGN

Project Spark

If you’ve ever wanted to build your own video game before, you need to check out Project Spark. This free-to-play title from Microsoft Studios gives you the power to create your own gameplay experiences, and download the bizarre and incredible creations of other people. Much like LittleBigPlanet and Minecraft, this game is all about creating new things, and sharing them with the world.

Without spending money, your options are pretty limited. You can earn in-game currency by playing and creating, but by all accounts that process is very slow. For $40, you can invest in a starter pack that offers a substantial amount of variety, but you’ll probably still run into paywalls here and there. Microsoft sells “Spark tokens” in chunks ranging from $5 to $100, so don’t be surprised when the game leans on you pretty hard for an influx of cash

Powerstar Golf

Up for a few holes of golf? Take a look at Powerstar Golf from Zoë Mode, and you’ll find a stylish golf game with a lot to offer. As you play, you can unlock new clubs and balls to improve your stats, and turn your character into a real pro. This persistent golfing experience tracks how well you’re doing, and easily allows you to challenge your friends to beat your score at any time. If you’ve got a competitive streak and a penchant for golf,Powerstar Golf is exactly what you’re looking for.

For free, you get access to a hole from every course. You can play as much as you like, earn experience points, and unlock new persistent gear. However, you’re going to need to pony up some cash if you want to do much more than dabble with the mechanics. You can buy any of four courses for $6 a pop, or you can invest $20 for the “full game unlock” combo pack. There has been plenty of criticism aimed at the lackluster free-to-play aspects of this game, but if you enjoy the core gameplay, it’s well worth the investment in the paid content.

• Download for free on Xbox Live
• Find out more on IGN

Project Spark

If you’ve ever wanted to build your own video game before, you need to check out Project Spark. This free-to-play title from Microsoft Studios gives you the power to create your own gameplay experiences, and download the bizarre and incredible creations of other people. Much like LittleBigPlanet and Minecraft, this game is all about creating new things, and sharing them with the world.

Without spending money, your options are pretty limited. You can earn in-game currency by playing and creating, but by all accounts that process is very slow. For $40, you can invest in a starter pack that offers a substantial amount of variety, but you’ll probably still run into paywalls here and there. Microsoft sells “Spark tokens” in chunks ranging from $5 to $100, so don’t be surprised when the game leans on you pretty hard for an influx of cash

Powerstar Golf

Up for a few holes of golf? Take a look at Powerstar Golf from Zoë Mode, and you’ll find a stylish golf game with a lot to offer. As you play, you can unlock new clubs and balls to improve your stats, and turn your character into a real pro. This persistent golfing experience tracks how well you’re doing, and easily allows you to challenge your friends to beat your score at any time. If you’ve got a competitive streak and a penchant for golf,Powerstar Golf is exactly what you’re looking for.

For free, you get access to a hole from every course. You can play as much as you like, earn experience points, and unlock new persistent gear. However, you’re going to need to pony up some cash if you want to do much more than dabble with the mechanics. You can buy any of four courses for $6 a pop, or you can invest $20 for the “full game unlock” combo pack. There has been plenty of criticism aimed at the lackluster free-to-play aspects of this game, but if you enjoy the core gameplay, it’s well worth the investment in the paid content.

• Download for free on Xbox Live
• Find out more on IGN

Project Spark

If you’ve ever wanted to build your own video game before, you need to check out Project Spark. This free-to-play title from Microsoft Studios gives you the power to create your own gameplay experiences, and download the bizarre and incredible creations of other people. Much like LittleBigPlanet and Minecraft, this game is all about creating new things, and sharing them with the world.

Without spending money, your options are pretty limited. You can earn in-game currency by playing and creating, but by all accounts that process is very slow. For $40, you can invest in a starter pack that offers a substantial amount of variety, but you’ll probably still run into paywalls here and there. Microsoft sells “Spark tokens” in chunks ranging from $5 to $100, so don’t be surprised when the game leans on you pretty hard for an influx of cash

Warframe

Looking for something a bit more traditional? This multiplayer third-person shooter from Digital Extremes is worth checking out. Join up with a team of friends, and blast and hack away at the enemies to your heart’s content. This sci-fi shooter has earned acclaim on the PC and PS4 since 2013, and now Xbox One owners can enjoy the game as well.

Warframe does allow you to sink anywhere from $5 to $150 at a time on in-game currency, but don’t feel like any of that is required. You can play the game without spending a dime, and thoroughly enjoy yourself the entire time. Offering $150 chunks of currency definitely feels a little gross, but it comes with the territory. Game devs just can’t stop themselves from catering to the whales among us.

• Download for free on Xbox Live
• Find out more on IGN

Xbox Fitness

This isn’t exactly what comes to mind when you think of free-to-play games, but Xbox Fitness is a neat package on offer from Sumo Digital. With this title, you can get fit in the real world with instruction from well-known exercise trainers like Jillian Michaels, Tony Horton, and Tracy Anderson.

The pricing model for Xbox Fitness is a little wonky, mind you. If you’re an Xbox Live Gold member, you currently have unlimited access until the end of the year. Starting in January, you’ll need to pony up for both a subscription and and Xbox Live Gold membership for continued unlimited access. Individual workout programs can be purchased à la carte with prices ranging between $9 and $60, but the “Gatorade Sports Performance Football Training Camp” routine is available at no cost.

• Download for free on Xbox Live
• Find out more on IGN

I’d buy that for a dollar

Free-to-play is still a rapidly evolving experience — especially on the new consoles. Consumer expectations, development costs, and platform limitations make the business side of this extremely complicated. Even so, you can’t really argue with a price tag of zero from the consumer end. The extremely low barrier to entry can expose everyone to entirely new genres, and that’s worth the time investment. If you don’t like it, simply delete the game, and forget about it. If you find something you like, you get to choose exactly how much money you’re willing to spend on the entertainment. There’s a lot of potential for the model on the PS4 and Xbox One, and this is just the beginning.

If there’s another free-to-play game for the Xbox One that you’d like to recommend, let us know in the comments!

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo suffers catastrophic failure during flight test

It’s been a bad week for commercial space flight. Earlier this week, the Antares rocket developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation exploded on takeoff and now Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is confirmed destroyed. Unlike SpaceX’s Dragon or the Antares rocket, SpaceShipTwo was designed to be lifted to launch altitude by the purpose-built transport aircraft, White Knight Two.

It’s currently being reported that one of the two pilots was killed, while the other is being treated for serious injuries, but as with most sudden-event reporting, a great deal of contradictory information is still zinging around the airwaves. Some reports indicate neither pilot has been found, while the BBC is claiming one is still alive.

Virgin’s official Twitter account noted the initial release at 10:07, the ignition of the rocket seconds later (same time stamp) and officially noted the explosion (defined at that point as an “anomaly”) at 10:13 AM. All reports indicate that the explosion happened relatively soon after engine ignition.

Meanwhile, photos of the wreckage have already surfaced online:

As anomalies go, that one is a doozy. Virgin is promising an update and statement, but has only said it will work with authorities to investigate the spacecraft’s destruction and is principally concerned with the fate of the two pilots.

Today’s launch was supposed to be a triumphant return to powered testing for the first time since January. Earlier this month, Virgin Galactic conducted successful unpowered test flights of the suborbital spacecraft and had even joked about taking Richard Branson into space as a Christmas present. The company has drawn the ire of critics who claimed its much-publicized pre-sales events, in which celebrities and the rich and famous paid to reserve seats on hypothetical flights, were little more than fundraising efforts on the backs of credulous enthusiasts.

The original SpaceShipOne won the coveted Ansari X Prize for successfully reaching space twice in two weeks; SpaceShipTwo was based on that design. Virgin Galactic had previously hoped to begin manned flights within 2015, but that effort will likely be halted as all eyes turn to post-launch analysis and disaster response.

An interview with Zoltan Istvan, leader of the Transhumanist Party and 2016 presidential contender

ExtremeTech has never been particularly interested in politics. That being said, as the focus of politics and politicians inexorably shifts towards technology, we might just jump in the water for a dip.

Many might imagine that concerns of a more socio-political nature — like who is able to accrue what particular powers or possessions, and from whom — would persist independently of technological influence. Others, like the Transhumanist Party founder Zoltan Istvan, might offer that socio-political issues already are, at heart, technological issues. Now seizing the day, and a rapidly expanding number of like-minded transhumanists, Istvan has announced that he will be a contender in the 2016 US presidential race.

If you haven’t heard of transhumanism, or you’re not quite sure what it means, I suggest you readour introductory story about transhumanismbefore diving into the rest of this story. In short, though, transhumanism (sometimes referred to as H+) is about improving or transforming the human condition through technology. Brain implants, genetic engineering, bionic limbs, indefinite life extension — these are all examples of the topics (and elective surgeries) that a transhumanist would be interested in.

The Transhumanist Wager

In his recent book The Tranhumanist Wager Istvan outlines three laws:

1. A transhumanist must safeguard one’s own existence above all else.
2. A transhumanist must strive to achieve omnipotence as expediently as possible — so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First Law.
3. A transhumanist must safeguard value in the universe — so long as one’s actions do not conflict with the First and Second Laws.

If energetically adopted, these deceptively simple maxims ultimately compel the individual to pursue a technologically enhanced and extended life. Zoltan and other supporters of transhumanism have come to see the choice to accept or reject these principles as something far more fundamental than the choice between liberal or conservative principles. In other words, it is a more compact predictor, a simpler explanation of your worldview, motivations, and actions than any current party provides.

It is for these reasons that Zoltan has founded the Transhumanist Party and is now taking this first major step to grow it. At this point in the game, the next major step — getting access to all the state ballots — could prove challenging. With these ideas in mind, we present an interview with (possibly) the next US president: Zoltan Istvan.

Zoltan Istvan

Why did you decide to run for the US presidency?

Zoltan Istvan – The most important goal of the Transhumanist Party and my 2016 presidential campaign is to spread awareness of transhumanism and to address the issue that society will be greatly changed by radical science and technology in the next 5-15 years. Most people are unaware how significant these changes could be. For example, we might all be getting brain implants soon, or using driverless cars, or having personal drones follow us around and do our shopping for us. Things like anonymity in the social media age, gender roles, exoskeleton suits for unfit people, ectogenesis, and the promise of immersive virtual reality could significantly change the way society views itself. Transhumanism seeks to address these issues with forward-thinking ideas, safeguards, and policies. It aims to be a bridge to a scientific and tech-dominated future, regardless what the species may eventually become.

While the Transhumanist Party has almost no chance of winning this election, its goal is to get on as many state ballots as possible, so people will see its promise and recognize what it stands for. By doing so, we’ll let citizens know an exciting political movement is afoot that focuses on using technology and science to enhance the human species. And maybe sometime in the future, many people will want to join it. Furthermore, I’m hopeful other political parties will take notice of transhumanism and incorporate its ideas into their own philosophies.

On a final note, it’s my hope that others will start to run for various political offices, both locally and nationally, under the Transhumanist Party banner. This way we can show the country that future politics should be far more science and technology inspired. This would be a great step for the direction of the America.

Xbox One readies shift to 20nm – but can a smaller node help it match the PS4’s performance?

Ever since the Xbox One and PS4 were unveiled as being based on 28nm technology, it’s been clear that both Microsoft and Sony would transition to smaller nodes as soon as those technologies were ready for prime time. It now looks as though Microsoft may make this jump before its rival. A sharp-eyed member of the Beyond3D forum picked up on the LinkedIn profile of one Daniel McConnell, an SoC designer at AMD, which discusses how he, “Successfully planned and executed the first APU for Microsoft’s Xbox One game console in 28nm and a cost-reduced derivative in 20nm technology.”

So what could it mean for Microsoft’s console to make a quick jump down to 20nm? In theory, such a shift could give Microsoft several advantages. Power consumption and die size both come down modestly at 20nm, which improves yields and price structure. The system chassis could theoretically be redesigned with new features or MS could target a cheaper model with certain capabilities removed. In the past, both Microsoft and Sony have used these periodic revisions to target modest improvements to storage capacity, performance, peripheral hookups, or other similar options.

The current Xbox One SoC – a 28nm APU made by AMD

But I think there’s an interesting question here, that strikes at the concept of what a console actually is and what Microsoft can or can’t get away with doing. For decades, consoles have been presented as fixed units. Sure, the external shell and some of the I/O hookups might change over time, but an Xbox 360 purchased in 2005 should be just as fast as an Xbox 360 bought in 2014. Consoles have been inviolate, even as PC hardware shifts fairly rapidly.

As Microsoft looks at its plans for a 20nm die shrink, it has to be asking if there’s a way to change the Xbox One’s design to better match the PS4. And it probably can — as we’ve previously discussed, there are two unused GPU partitions on the system that would give it a significant GPU performance boost. It might also be able to increase the size of the shared ESRAM cache.

The problem, though, is optics. Early adopters of the Xbox One can’t be particularly pleased that they bought a now-useless doorstop in the form of Kinect 2.0. No one is going to be happy if Microsoft rolls out a new version of the Xbox One (Xbox 1.5?). And the company would risk bifurcating its dev teams between haves and have-nots. For a company whose message has already been badly diluted and confused, the presence of two different types of console would be problematic at best. Furthermore, McConnell’s profile makes it clear that Microsoft chose to drive engagements that would minimize costsover increasing performance in future iterations of the SoC.

Xbox One internals [Image credit: iFixit]

We’ve toyed with the idea of upgradeable consoles in other posts, but after the problems the Xbox One has had with brand and message, I think shifting the system’s design now would only confuse and frustrate users further. 20nm die shrinks are also expected to be relatively modest, with the following 14/16nm technology delivering more raw performance and the bulk of improved thermals.

What about DDR4?

One intriguing option Microsoft might take would be to outfit the console with DDR4. There’s been a great deal of discussion over whether or not the Xbox One’s quad-channel DDR3 memory bus is a problem for most games, with some general consensus that it likely is. Microsoft could close this gap, at least in theory, by upgrading to a faster form of DDR4. 8GB of DDR4-2700 or even DDR4-3200 would improve memory bandwidth by 25-50%. The question, however, is whether games could be programmed to run equally smoothly on both sets of hardware.

Again, that’s problematic. If memory bandwidth is really the issue, Microsoft might wind up having one console that can run 1080p safely, while the other is stuck in 900p territory. Is it possible to build a resolution toggle into games? PCs certainly have done it for years, but it’s not clear if this is possible on the console side.

Microsoft could theoretically swap out the DDR3 on the Xbox One for DDR4 without changing any of the underlying specs, but I suspect this will be difficult. DDR3 and DDR4 have very different latencies and matching the two well enough to make them identical at the design level might be more trouble than it’s worth.

Watch out: If you installed the PS4 2.0 firmware update, don’t use Rest Mode

Remember the big PS4 2.0 firmware release that shipped earlier this month? Well, it turns out there is a bug in this update that can prevent the PS4 from waking properly from Rest Mode (i.e. hibernation, sleep). Affected users are being required to hard boot their systems, and that could potentially cause major problems. There’s no official word on when we’ll see a bug fix, but thankfully there is a workaround for the time being.

Earlier today, I saw a report on CNET regarding a bug in the latest firmware that prevents the PS4 from coming out of Rest Mode. I’ve been using firmware 2.0 “Masamune” since it was released, and I’ve been using Rest Mode on and off since then without any issue. Incredulous, I grabbed my DualShock 4, and jammed on the PlayStation button. Nothing happened. I touched the power button, and the screen remained blank. I decided to hard boot the machine, and I was finally greeted with a screen scolding me for powering off thePS4 improperly. It did a quick scan of the file system, and everything worked out for me this time. Luckily, nothing was ruined.

Of course, not everyone will be so lucky. Hard booting can cause serious problems, and lead to corrupted data. If you’re currently running the 2.0 firmware, you should refrain from using Rest Mode. When you’re done using your console, turn it off completely. Until Sony issues a patch, consider Rest Mode armed and dangerous. It’s a bit of a hassle, but it’s a lot better than dealing with an unresponsive PS4.

If you’re having problems getting your console to boot properly, Sony recommends using safe mode to fix your issue. If you’ve already been bitten by this bug, I recommend that you wait until Sony releases a patch, and then sideload it onto your PS4 with a USB stick to prevent further headaches.

Combine this firmware faux pas with the Driveclub disaster, and October has proven to be a difficult month for Sony. Of course, this isn’t the first time Sony has pushed out a bad update for its consoles. Just last year, firmware 4.45 caused huge problems for PS3 owners. This just serves as a reminder that blindly installing updates isn’t a good idea. Next time, let’s wait a few days before we install that big, feature-rich firmware update.

Your next smartphone or EV will recharge to 70% in just two minutes, thanks to new lithium-ion battery tech

Scientists at Nangyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore have developed a new lithium-ion battery that can be recharged to 70% capacity in just two minutes. In addition to being able to charge your smartphone or electric car in just a few minutes, this new lithium-ion battery (LIB) can also endure more than 10,000 charge/discharge cycles — or about 20 times more than current LIBs. Perhaps most excitingly, though, NTU’s new Li-ion tech has already been patented, is compatible with existing battery manufacturing processes, and has “attracted interest from the industry.” Unlike many other lithium-ion battery advances, this one might actually hit the market within a couple of years.

As you’re probably aware, modern life (perhaps a little unnervingly or depressingly) is inextricably linked to batteries. How long a device lasts on battery power, and how long it takes to recharge, have a direct impact on most aspects of our work and social lives — and it’s only going to get worse as wearable computing, electric vehicles, and the internet of things take hold. While we do occasionally see incremental changes and improvements to battery technology, we are still mostly beholden to lithium-ion battery tech that was commercialized by Sony way back in 1991. NTU’s new lithium-ion battery design, which allows for ultra-fast recharging and extreme endurance, could be the big breakthrough that we desperately need.

Titanium dioxide — otherwise known as that cheap white powder that’s used in paint, sunscreen, solar panels, and more.

NTU’s new battery, developed by Chen Xiaodong and friends, replaces the LIB’s customary graphite anode with a gel of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes. It’s news to me, but apparently titanium dioxide — a very cheap, plentiful substance that you might know as titania — is very good at storing lithium ions, and thus electrical charge. By using a nanostructured gel, the surface area of the anode — and thus its ability to quickly pick up lots and lots of lithium ions — is dramatically increased. The NTU research paper seems to mostly focus on the process used to create these titanium dioxide nanotubes. In short, though, they just stirred a mixture of titanium dioxide and sodium hydroxide — at at just the right temperature, the stirring encourages the TiO2 to form long nanotubes. Suffice it to say, this simple process is “easy to integrate” into current production processes. [DOI: 10.1002/adma.201470238 - "Nanotubes: Mechanical Force-Driven Growth of Elongated Bending TiO2-based Nanotubular Materials for Ultrafast Rechargeable Lithium Ion Batteries"]

Read: Stanford creates ‘Holy Grail’ lithium battery, could triple smartphone and EV battery life

Currently, one of the biggest problems of lithium-ion batteries is that they can’t be charged very quickly. By replacing the graphite anode with NTU’s titanium dioxide gel, the researchers say they’ve created LIBs that can be recharged to 70% capacity in just two minutes. Furthermore, because the new gel is much more resistant to microfracturing and dendrite formation, the new batteries have extreme endurance of over 10,000 charge/discharge cycles — about 20 times more than current LIBs. This second feature is obviously big news for electric vehicles like the Tesla Model S, which will need a costly replacement battery pack every few years. “With our nanotechnology, electric cars would be able to increase their range dramatically with just five minutes of charging, which is on par with the time needed to pump petrol for current cars,” says Chen. The first feature — ultra-fast recharging — is awesome news for just about everyone.

NTU Singapore says the new LIB technology has already been patented (presumably the method of making TiO2 nanotubes), and has attracted interest from the industry. Chen says the first generation of fast-charging batteries should hit the market within two years. In the meantime, software-based fast charging solutions and power-saving modes should keep us out of the electro-mobility chasm for a little longer.

Assassin’s Creed Unity locked to 900p @ 30 fps, due to Xbox One and PS4′s weak CPU

Ready for yet another Assassin’s Creed game? Too bad! Ubisoft is releasing Assassin’s Creed Unity$59.96 at Amazon on the Xbox One and PS4 later this year, but it might not be the next-gen experience you’ve been hoping for. A Ubisoft representative caused an internet uproar earlier this week when he explained that the game is currently limited to 900p at 30 fps on both consoles. Sub-1080p game releases are slightly disappointing in general, but the specific wording around this game lead many to believe that the PS4 edition is being intentionally hobbled for the sake of platform parity.

In an interview at Video Gamer, Ubisoft’s Vincent Pontbriand explains the large amount of AI computation required for Assassin’s Creed Unity is what’s impacting performance the most. The CPU — not the GPU — is the bottleneck here. If that’s true, that certainly explains why both versions of the game are running at a lower resolution and frame rate. While the PS4 does have a superior GPU, both consoles are using very similar AMD Jaguar CPUs.

The crux of the issue comes down to the way Pontbriand explained the limitations. Specifically, he said “We decided to lock [both versions] at the same specs to avoid all the debates and stuff.” To some, that was PR-speak for “The PS4 is being hobbled to make it look on par to the Xbox One version.” However, that doesn’t actually seem to be the case.

Read: Xbox One vs. PS4: How the final hardware specs compare

In a statement made to Kotaku, a Ubisoft representative unambiguously states “We did not lower the specs for Assassin’s Creed Unity to account for any one system over the other.” Considering that Pontbriand claims in the original article that the engine could run at 100 fps on the current hardware if the bottleneck around AI computation wasn’t in the mix, I believe Ubisoft’s denial. This seems like a legitimate limitation of the CPUs in the current crop of consoles — not a back-room business deal.

It is notable that it’s the relatively wimpy Jaguar CPU that’s being scrutinized, and not the usual my-GPU-is-bigger-than-yours argument that has dominated Xbox One/PS4 hardware spec debate so far. If developers are already running into issues with complex CPU-limited tasks, then it doesn’t bode overly well for the rest of the eighth generation.

Unfortunately, this seems to be a recurring issue for this generation of consoles. For many developers, there is a choice that has to be made between next-gen graphics or next-gen gameplay. Ubisoft is obviously willing to sacrifice frame rate and resolution in favor of drastically improved AI, but that seems to leave a bad taste in the mouths of many gamers and members of the enthusiast press. Frankly, it’s just disappointing to see so many games fail to hit 1080p60 in a world where 4K televisions and high frame rate video are proliferating so quickly.

Android 5.0 Lollipop: All the details and features of Google’s sweetest treat yet

Google revealed many details about the new version of Android a few months ago, but we didn’t get a name — it was simply “Android L.” Now there’s finally a name and a version number to go with it. Android 5.0 Lollipop is a seismic shift for Android in both design and features. With all the details of Android 5.0 now in the wild, it’s time to tell you all about the latest, largest, and greatest Android release yet. Buckle up and sit back: There’s a lot of awesome new features to run through.

Materially different

Google’s last design language was known as Holo, but that has been replaced by Material Design. This was thoroughly previewed when the developer preview was released, and Google went on to update the design guidelines for developers to start making Material apps. However, Google is stressing something new with the unveiling of Lollipop — consistency across devices.

From your phone, to your tablet, to your watch, to your car,  to your TV — it’s going to be Android Lollipop all the time. Well, as soon as your device maker gets around to pushing out an update. There will still be manufacturer skins, but Google is trying to create a vibrant new UI that OEMs will have a hard time covering up. The use of “hero” colors in apps is an example of this. The header color will carry over to the status bar (if the developer supports it), and that color is then shown in the header when you open the app switcher. OEMs loveto skin the app switcher, but doing so now will mean taking away useful new UI cues, so why bother?

The preview of Android L came along at a time when there were almost no Material apps to test, but that won’t be a problem when Android 5.0 starts rolling out. It wasn’t clear last spring just how important (and cool) animations were going to be in Android 5.0. Developers have been trying to come up with ways to fake all the subtle button morphing and panel layering of Lollipop on KitKat devices, and these do add something, but Android 5.0′s native support for Material Design is going to make even cookiecutter apps looks amazing. The updated UI samples and upcoming SDK are looking great.

Battery life fixes

Android phones have long suffered from battery life issues caused by the way apps and services can behave in the background. Any app can be granted the power to wake up a device and keep it awake (called a wakelock). This is an important feature of the platform, but sometimes apps are coded poorly or there’s a minor incompatibility that causes a device to stay awake too long. Android 5.0 is supposed to prevent that while also providing you more information about when you’ll have to charge up.

Google is also introducing a power saving mode, which has always been missing from stock Android. It’s not as extensive as what Samsung or HTC are doing with their low-power modes, but it’s a start. You’ll be able to restrict syncing, background data, and screen brightness when you need to eke out a little more battery life. This mode seems to have the same basic options as it did in the preview, but it’s probably tuned better.

The battery use menu has also been revamped with a better graph containing information about which apps and processes are causing drain, rather than just foreground tasks. You also get estimates of remaining battery life based on current and past usage patterns, and a time until charged reading when plugged in. That’s especially cool for devices with Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 2.0 feature, like the Nexus 6 (which calls it Turbo Charger).

Notifications

One of the headlining changes available in the preview of 5.0 was the updated Notification system. The entire look and feel of notifications on Android is changing with easy access on the lock screen, a revamped pull-down menu, and a new heads-up style floating notification that pops up at the top of the screen.

The changes to the layout and location of notifications were already known from the preview, but they are no less notable now. Lock screen widgets are gone in Android 5.0, but that’s probably a worthwhile tradeoff. Lock screen widgets never really took off and having easy access to notifications — even on secured devices — is a big deal. One tap on a notification and you can unlock the phone to the corresponding app.

The final announcement of Android Lollipop includes a few new features of notifications. For one, notifications will be intelligently ranked based on the contact they are from or the app that produced them. So a text message from a favorite contact is at the top and that nagging alert from a social game is down at the bottom (you should really turn those off).

Also new is Priority Mode, which sounds fantastic. Basically, the volume slider has a setting for limiting notifications to only important items. So the text message from above would get through, but the other stuff doesn’t bother you. This appears to be an expansion of the Do Not Disturb setting from the preview, but much more refined.

Security

A recent development in Android land is the news that Android 5.0 will include encryption by default, something that has made the intelligence and law enforcement communities none too happy. You can encrypt an Android device right now, but it’s actually quite a pain. You need to plug the phone in and leave it to do its thing for at least 30 minutes. If something goes wrong, your data could be forever lost.

On Android 5.0 this will happen automatically from the start, so you don’t have to worry about anyone harvesting your data if the phone is lost or stolen. Even if you have a lock screen, unencrypted data can be accessed with a variety of workarounds, but there’s no good way to break the kind of strong cryptography utilized by Android.

If you do lose the phone, the new version of Android comes with factory reset protection or a “kill switch.” It’s an opt-in feature, so it won’t happen automatically like with iOS. You’ll be able to set the phone or tablet to require your Google ID and password to trigger a full wipe of the system. That means a stolen or lost Android Lollipop device is a useless brick to anyone but you.

Google is also confirming that Smart Lock will come to stock Android. This was discussed at I/O 2014, but didn’t show up in the preview. Smart Lock is a way to automatically disable your secure lock screen when a trusted Bluetooth device is paired. For example, you could set your Android Wear watch to automatically bypass the lock screen when it’s connected. Lose that connection and the phone will ask for a password again. You can do the same thing with a fitness tracker or even a Bluetooth headset.

Google’s Nexus Player: Fourth time lucky in the living room, or just YASTB?

Along with the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, Google has also released its umpteenth attempt at taking over your living room: the Nexus Player. The Nexus Player, made by Asus and Google, is technically the first device to run Android TV — a version of Android 5.0 Lollipop that has had its interface specially tailored for use on your TV. Outwardly, it would appear that the $100 Nexus Player is just YASTB (yet another set-top box) like Amazon’s Fire TV or Apple TV that’s months or years behind the competition — but who knows, maybe there’s a method in Google’s incessant living room madness?

Way back in 2010, there was Google TV — a cut-down version of Android that essentially just put the Chrome web browser on your TV. Google never really had a strong strategy in place for Google TV, and it was crippled by a lack of content (all of the major content providers except for Dish have blocked it). Unperturbed, Google, Logitech, and a handful of smart TV makers released a few versions of Google TV, but eventually retired the product in 2013. Next up unto the breach was Chromecast — a simple HDMI dongle that allows you to stream content to your TV from your PC or smartphone. Chromecast has certainly been well received among nerdy, power-user types, but it hasn’t exactly revolutionized the living room for mom-and-pop consumers. At some point, there was also the Nexus Q — but Google doesn’t like us to talk about that particular misstep.

Google is back yet again with Android TV and the Nexus Player. Android TV appears to be a full version of Android 5.0 Lollipop, meaning it can download and install apps from the Play Store, including streaming services like Netflix and Hulu — and you can buy or rent a movie, of course. Google Cast (the tech underpinning Chromecast) is integrated. Android TV can be controlled with a remote control, an app on your phone or tablet, or a gamepad (in the case of the Nexus Player, there’s a $40 gamepad sold separately). Like Google TV, a number of TV makers will integrate Android TV into their smart TVs (expect to see lots at CES 2015), and there’ll be third-party Android TV set-top boxes from OEMs as well.

Curiously, like Google TV, the Nexus Player is actually powered by an Intel Atom processor — a quad-core Valleyview Bay Trail part clocked at 1.8GHz. There’s 8GB of internal storage, 1GB of RAM 802.11ac 2×2 WiFi, and as far as I can tell no SD card slot. As I mentioned previously, there’s an optional gamepad that you can buy for $40 (pictured below). I’m sure Android gaming on the Android TV will be at least as good as on the Ouya.

Boy was the Nexus Q beautiful — but it was useless, too

So far, so good. Wait, did I say good? I meant bland. Bear in mind that the Nexus Player costs $100 — $15 more than the Amazon Fire TV, $5 more than the Roku 3, or a full $50 more than the Roku 3500R HDMI dongle/streaming stick. I’m really not sure what Android TV brings to the table, other than tighter integration into Google’s larger ecosystem — a feature that might be beneficial on your smartphone, but is probably detrimental in the living room where Amazon has better content deals in place. Android TV might become interesting at some point — perhaps when you have a full complement of other Nexus/Android Lollipop devices — but for now it feels like Google is just trying to keep a hairy toe past your living room doorjamb.

The Nexus Player will be available exclusively from the Play Store (and only in the US for now) for $100. The optional gamepad will cost $40. The Nexus Player was originally meant to go on sale at the start of November, but it seems Google has pushed the date back; as of right now, there’s no listed release date.

Apple SIM and the death of the SIM card

Let’s not delude ourselves here: Apple’s iPad event was spectacularly dull. You just know it’s going to be anticlimactic when Craig Federighi forces us to sit through 30-plus minutes of iOS and OS X news before Tim Cook was allowed to unveil the — big surprise — thinner and lighter iPad Air 2, and the sniveling footnote that is the iPad Mini 3. In fact, there is one interesting feature of the new iPads — but it was relegated to a page on the Apple website, rather than shown off on-stage. It’s called the Apple SIM, and it’s the death knell of the humble — if rather annoying — SIM card.

Apple has always had it in for the SIM card. Ever since the first iPhone, which used a fiddly paperclip-actuated SIM holder, Apple has shown that it won’t be beholden to clunky, old, or slow-moving technologies that it has no direct control over. With the original iPad, Apple was the first major device maker to move to the smaller micro-SIM (3FF) standard — and in 2012, Apple forced through a new nano-SIM (4FF) and was again first to market with the iPhone 5. Even now in 2014,

The evolution of the GSM SIM card. It’s hard to believe that the SIM was originally a credit card sized piece of plastic. Shown here, from left to right, are the standard SIM (1FF), mini (2FF), micro (3FF), and nano (4FF).

In each successive case, it has always been about making Apple products smaller, thinner, and lighter than the competitors. SIM cards, with their fixed dimensions and the removable tray, are a straight-up design constraint. There’s no getting around it: As it stands, you simply cannot make a device thinner than a SIM card tray, and a significant amount of design and manufacturing time has to be invested into placing the SIM slot (both on the logic board and externally on the chassis) and ensuring it’s reliable. Moving parts are thebane of industrial design.

There is an alternative to the SIM card, of course: the embedded-SIM. Rather than including a removable SIM card and tray mechanism, the manufacturer can solder a SIM card permanently onto the device. Not only does this remove the need for a SIM card tray, but it also allows for the SIM itself to be reduced to just a tiny chip on the logic board (there isn’t actually much in a SIM card, but because it has to be held by clumsy human hands they can’t be shrunk down much further than the nano form factor). Way back in 2012, when ETSI started working on embedded-SIM, Apple showed a clear interest in the new standard — and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the iPhone 7 or iPad Air 3 debut without a discrete SIM card.

iPad Air 2, showing the new Apple SIM carrier selection screen

For the time being, though, Apple has the next best thing: The Apple SIM. In the US and UK, the LTE versions of the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 will come with a reprogrammable SIM card — the so-called Apple SIM — that can switch to different carriers via the Settings menu in iOS. In theory, this allows you to switch between your AT&T contract and perhaps a pre-paid T-Mobile deal, to get the best of both worlds. In the future, when the Apple SIM inevitably rolls out to the iPhone (presumably the iPhone 7) maybe you’ll be able to open up Settings and select one carrier for cheap international calls, and then switch back to your main carrier for data. And of course, when you travel, rather than having to hunt down a local SIM card, Apple SIM would let you easily use a local carrier for cheap data and calls.

Prior to the iPhone, it was all about removing the battery to insert the SIM card — a constraint that Apple didn’t want to adhere to

The concept of a software-programmable SIM is certainly very cool, and a whole lot more revolutionary than the new gold color option or the inclusion of last year’s Touch ID sensor.

The problem, of course, is that today’s Apple SIM is clearly just a waypoint towards a future where the SIM card is removed from the equation entirely. It might be the iPhone 6S, or maybe the iPhone 7, but eventually Apple will do away with the physical SIM card and tray, replacing it with a tiny chip on the logic board and a SIM/carrier selection screen within iOS. If Apple does it properly and includes every carrier and MVNO you might ever want to use, then we have nothing to worry about — in fact, that actually sounds like a better solution than slotting in new SIM cards.

If Apple exerts some kind of control over Apple SIM, though, or is somehow tardy or restrictive over adding carriers to the selection screen, then you might soon find yourself lamenting the death of the SIM card — for ultimately, that is what this is all about. Apple has forced the adoption of smaller and smaller SIM card standards with the success of the iPhone and iPad, and I see no reason why it would stop with the nano-SIM. If Apple kills off the SIM card, then other device makers will surely follow suit.